Paz Atienza was born on July 10, 1948.

The eldest of two from parents Leonardo and Clarita Amador, she grew up in Candelaria, Quezon Province, Philippines, where she completed early schooling at Lady Mediatrix Institute. Paz went on to attend college at University of Santo Tomas where she earned a Bachelors in Pharmacy. After college, she found laboratory work at Peter Paul Philippine Corporation.

Paz was united in marriage to Froilan Atienza and started their family with the arrival of their son, Marc. In 1976, they moved to San Diego, California, and shortly after, Paz gave birth to their second son, Jan-Michael. She spent the next few years raising the two boys, teaching them the importance of family, nurturing their curiosity of the world, and providing lots of love.

After opening up her home for the extended family migrating from the Philippines, she decided to help support her family and found work at General Atomics, and later at General Dynamics. In 1991, Paz became part-owner of a small business and continued to manage Video R US for over a decade while also caring for her family and disabled parents until their passing. Prior to retirement, Paz worked at Remec.

Paz filled her time with joy; keeping active through gardening, crafting jewelry, sewing and crochet work, spending time at the beach, dancing, yoga exercises, taking pictures and videos of the world around her, connecting with others on social media, and being with her dog Suki. Most of all, she loved spending time with family; especially her five grandchildren who called her Lola.

Paz was a woman of God, with complete faith and trust. She would pray and listen for God's guidance with persistence. Her love of God was evident in the way she loved and in relationships with those around her. She was kind and welcoming to anyone she would meet or talk to. She was a great listener, very engaging at conversations and accepting of others' differences.

Paz will be remembered as one who truly lived in the moment. One only needs to look at the many photos and videos she would take to see how she invested herself with the sights, sounds, smells, emotions of the day.  She had a personality as colorful as the clothes wore. She would jump up and down in excitement seeing familiar faces when they visited. She would laugh and scream in joy at any quip or comment without regard.  She rejoiced in celebrating your accomplishments. But also caring and mindful in talking through your tribulations.

Paz was a bright light in many people's worlds, and for that she will be truly missed.

Paz is survived by her husband Froilan; her two sons Marc and Jan-Michael; her two daughters-in-law Angie and Emee; and her grandchildren Elise, Zoee, Jonathan, Celeste, and Arianna.